Making gravy truly isn’t difficult, though in my case, it took some practice. Did I ever tell you about the first time I made gravy for Matt? He had to spread it onto his potatoes with a knife. Good times. (That was in our dating days. Praise God he saw gravy-making potential and still chose to marry me. It was probably because of how I rocked the big hair. Or the high waist pants, which are somehow now back in style. Why, girls? Why?)

Continue to cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture has thickened into gravy.

Salt liberally as desired.

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Need to thicken your gravy? Make another mixture of water/cornstarch and whisk it in to the boiling broth little by little until you’ve reached the desired gravy consistency you want.

It is important that you mix the water and cornstarch together before stirring it into your drippings/broth! Sprinkling cornstarch directly into the hot drippings will only give you lumpy gravy. Ask me how I know.

What are you better at making: Roast or Gravy? Maybe now we can all be good at both!

My mom used to be the queen of perfect Sunday roasts. But for some reason, it’s taken me over 20 years to figure out how to get my roast to fall apart and taste delicious. Today I’ll share what I’ve learned about making beef roast in the Instant Pot. Aha! Now we’re on to something.

After years of trial and error, I finally learned to make a Melt–in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast in the Crock Pot. This is all well and good except for the days I don’t have 12 hours to wait for my beef roast to cook to perfection. A recent Sunday morning, “What can I make for lunch before we leave for church in ten minutes?!” panic led me to investigate how to make a beef roast in my Instant Pot.

Wait. You don’t have an Instant Pot? Trust me. I understand. It took me years of hearing about them to get on the Insta-Train. Now that I’m on board, I’m declaring it to be one of my favorite appliances. Is an Instant Pot worth your investment? I give an emphatic, “Absolutely!” (I have this one.)

So anyway, back to my pot roast. I discovered that there are many Instant Pot roast-making instructions out there. But I have to admit what you already know about me: I really do not like recipes that instruct me to take several steps before walking away from my food to let it cook. After all, what good is using a Crock Pot or Instant Pot if I have to spend 30 or more minutes prepping the food?

Therefore, while most recipes I found instructed that I sear both sides of the roast and sing it a lullaby before allowing the Instant Pot to work its magic, I decided to do what I do best: Throw the food into the pot, turn it on, and walk away. After all, I don’t have time to sear meat on a Sunday morning, nor am I interested in going to church smelling like caramelized onion. And all my fellow worshipers said amen.

I figured the worst that might happen if I took a few shortcuts is that my roast would be mediocre, something my family has dealt with for most of my roast-making life. This is why God invented gravy.

So into the Instant Pot went the roast. I dumped on some sea salt, worchestershire sauce, water, onion, and carrots. We went to church and came home to this:

The meat fell apart. The flavor was incredible. Continue to sear your roast if you must, but as for me and my house, I will continue to throw in the food and let the appliances do the work.

Add 3ish pounds of scrubbed and cut potatoes to the pot if you like. :)

Be on the lookout for a tutorial on making Roast Gravy.

Am I the only one who has struggled to make a good pot roast? Here’s hoping this recipe solves all your roast-making issues!

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links.

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Join Simple Meals and get $10 your first year’s subscription!

We love how Simple Meals has been saving family time for so many, and helping people put great food on the table each night! For one week only, we’re happy to offer you an awesome $10 discount!

Sign up below – While this shows up at the regular $52 price-tag, once you click to purchase you’ll see that the price you pay for your first year’s subscription is only $42! Enjoy the great discount and the wonderful meal plans this year!!

Sometimes I experiment with recipe ideas and they turn out to be big flops. You don’t know about these because they don’t get shared here, for all the obvious, not-so-tasty reasons. This Simple Cheeseburger Hashbrown Cup or Casserole recipe got rave reviews at our house, making it definitely blog worthy. How can cooking real food continue to get easier??!

Have I mentioned that I discovered Mr. Dells Frozen Hashbrowns at the grocery store and declare them to be a fabulous option? They contain one ingredient: Potatoes. Other frozen hashbrowns at the store have a slew of ingredients listed that I can’t pronounce. So either make your own frozen hashbrowns or see if you can find a brand like Mr. Dells that includes plain ol’ potatoes. I try to have big bags of these on hand at all times now as they are super convenient!

To make this recipe, simply brown meat and stir in the remaining ingredients. Spread mixture into a casserole dish (easy!!) or scoop the mixture into muffin tins (still easy but one more step). Bake and serve. Enjoy the deliciousness!

Mix cooked meat and remaining ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.

For Cups: Scoop mixture into prepared muffin tins (I find that it works best to melt a bit of oil in each tin so that the baked nests pop right out!) Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

For Casserole: Spread mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

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Freezer Friendly!

Make this recipe into a casserole, cover, and freeze. When you’re ready to bake it, take it from the freezer, cover it with foil and slide it into a cold oven. Bake at 250 degrees for 2.5 hours or until bubbly.

Join Simple Meals and get $10 your first year’s subscription!

We love how Simple Meals has been saving family time for so many, and helping people put great food on the table each night! For one week only, we’re happy to offer you an awesome $10 discount!

Sign up below – While this shows up at the regular $52 price-tag, once you click to purchase you’ll see that the price you pay for your first year’s subscription is only $42! Enjoy the great discount and the wonderful meal plans this year!!

I love it when good ideas turn out amazing results! But I love it even more that this recipe is so easy your two year old can make it. My favorite is that this cooks while we’re sleeping so we can wake up and have a good meal ready to serve later in the day. Or if you prefer, start this cooking in your crock pot first thing in the morning and have an awesome meal ready at the end of the day.

Now, some have cautioned against putting frozen meat in a crock pot. I have no hesitation about this, and I think we all know I’m terrible about ever remembering to thaw meat. So if given the chance, I will put frozen meat into my crock pot because this saves brain power. Coffee can only do so much.

The work involved in making this Simple Salsa Shredded Beef includes none other than:

Putting a frozen roast in a crock pot.

Dumping on a jar of salsa.

Letting it cook all night or all day.

Praise God, Glory Hallelujah.

After cooking for 10-12 hours, this meat has become so flavorful and tender it practically falls apart before you even come near it with a fork. Shred it quickly, cry a joyful tear over how marvelous your meal is going to be, and serve this to your family with a smile. After all, you didn’t have to work hard to make this. So you still have energy to smile. What a gift.

Use this Simple Salsa Shredded Beef as Mexi-Wraps in tortillas with taco/burrito fixin’s. Use it to make Simple Spanish Rice Bowls. Toss it into a Taco Salad. Eat it directly out of the crock pot. Who can help it?

Enjoy all these recipes without effort when you become a Simple Meals member! Every week we’ll send you a great menu plan full of Simple Recipes like this one. We’ll equip you with a grocery list. We’ll break everything down so that your meal prep is as simple as possible. We’ll give you bonus tips and recipes and freebies. And this is all for just $1 each week. You’ll love it!

You’ll love this Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip. But first, wait until you see what we’ve got in the works!

It’s a brand new eBook and we’re going to roll it out very soon! It includes a whopping 111 recipes – all of which only utilize 5 or fewer ingredients. This has been one of our most exciting projects! Sharing ways to put simple food on your table is one of our favorite goals, and if the recipe has only 5 ingredients, you can bet it is simpler than ever!

Be on the look out for brand new High Five Recipes I’ll be sharing during the next few weeks, as well as the reveal of our brand new eBook in just a few hours! As for today, you’ll need three simple ingredients and a bag of chips. What used to be a snack can now become a meal!

A few weeks ago when I posted my Cream Cheese Salsa Dip recipe, Kayla left a comment to share that she used the same idea to make Bean Dip. Say no more, Kayla. We got out our cream cheese, salsa, and a can of refried beans and we suddenly had a new favorite!

Do you see how easy real food cooking can be? I had a teen at my house last week devouring my food saying, “I guess I never knew healthy food actually tasted good.” Boom. That is my goal. Healthy food that tastes good. And if it can also be simple to make, then my entire food mission has been accomplished.

If you have time, soak and cook pinto beans for this recipe. But for all who are in a hurry, simply get out a jar of salsa, a package of cream cheese, and a can of beans. Blend it together and your main dish is ready. Eat it hot. Eat it cold. And of course, eat it with fruits and vegetables on the side because this is the 11th commandment. “Thou shalt eat fruits and veggies with every meal.” Amen.

**UPDATE**

Simplify your kitchen! These 111 recipes all use only 5 or fewer real food ingredients. High quality recipes, five or fewer ingredients. It doesn't get any easier than this! Download this eBook right away!

I’ll tell you about this Simple Three Cheese Spaghetti in a minute. But first…

I’ve decided I need to write another cookbook. My Oh, For Realcookbook is almost out of stock, and I’ve learned a lot more about simple real food cooking since I wrote that one. My Best of Heavenly Homemakers book is selling well, but there are very few recipes included.

I think I need to write a cookbook filled with all these super simple real food recipes I’ve been sharing so we can help lots and lots of families put great, nourishing meals on the table without hassle or big expense. Hmmm…my wheels are now spinning with new cookbook ideas. What are your thoughts and ideas about this??!

Today’s Simple Three-Cheese Spaghetti recipe is super creamy and flavorful. We use Pepper-jack cheese for this, which gives it a nice kick. If your family doesn’t like spice, you can stick with Colby-jack, cheddar, or any of your favorites!

Enjoy all these recipes without effort when you become a Simple Meals member! Every week we’ll send you a great menu plan full of Simple Recipes like this one. We’ll equip you with a grocery list. We’ll break everything down so that your meal prep is as simple as possible. We’ll give you bonus tips and recipes and freebies. And this is all for just $1 each week. You’ll love it!

See how orange my broth is? That’s because I always cook a lot of carrots and other veggies with my chicken or beef bones when I make broth. Then I blend up the mushy, cooked veggies and stir them back into the broth. I’m telling you, this tip makes our broth super delicious and obviously very packed with nutrients!!

I store my broth in 1/2 gallon jars in my fridge to pull out and use as needed. Usually when I make soup, I add more veggies so we’re getting veggies upon veggies and our soups are very nourishing!

This particular Simple Noodle Soup recipe I’m sharing today can really be made according to your family’s preferences. I simply cook sliced carrots and whole wheat noodles in the broth, salt it liberally, and call it a meal. If I serve it with salad then we’re getting even more nutrients and if I throw some fruit on the table we’re golden.

The best part is that this soup is comforting, warm, tasty, and quick to put on the table. It costs very little to make, especially if you’ve kept chicken bones from past meals like these Simple Lemon Garlic Chicken Legs.

Enjoy all these recipes without effort when you become a Simple Meals member! Every week we’ll send you a great menu plan full of Simple Recipes like this one. We’ll equip you with a grocery list. We’ll break everything down so that your meal prep is as simple as possible. We’ll give you bonus tips and recipes and freebies. And this is all for just $1 each week. You’ll love it!

These Simple Lemon Garlic Chicken Legs will make everyone think you are a gourmet chef. Which, of course, you are. No one has to know your secret. The secret about how you spent five minutes making the chicken. Let’s just keep that between us.

No one has to know how little you spent on this meal either. We can let everyone think you went all out with time and money.

Want to know how much it cost me to serve this entire meal to my family? There were five of us home the last time I made this. My husband and me, our 17-year old son, our 15-year old son, and our 13-year old son. We ate a full pan of these chicken legs with mixed greens, grapes, and green beans. Total cost for all of us to eat?

$5.61

Total. For the entire meal. For five of us to eat a plate full of nourishment.

Indeed. I’m so glad I did the math!

I always watch for chicken legs to be marked down at the store, which is a huge money saver! This time I used two packages which had been marked down to a tiny $1.27 and $1.34! So total for my meat this meal was just $2.61. Incredible! Add in the greens, veggies, and grapes and I’m estimating that our total for this meal was just $5.61.

Now, not to geek out too much, but this breaks down to just $1.12 per person for this meal. Man, I am loving this Simple Meals on a Simple Budget series! It is challenging me to see what meals pack the most punch to stretch our grocery budget!

Oh! And I saved the chicken bones after we cleaned up all the meat and threw them into my Instant Pot for a small batch of chicken broth. Waste not, want not, right? :) Remember that little tip because the next Simple Budget recipe I plan to share will use that broth!

Enjoy all these recipes without effort when you become a Simple Meals member! Every week we’ll send you a great menu plan full of Simple Recipes like this one. We’ll equip you with a grocery list. We’ll break everything down so that your meal prep is as simple as possible. We’ll give you bonus tips and recipes and freebies. And this is all for just $1 each week. You’ll love it!

With these Simple Veggie Fritters, you can present your family with a satisfying meal made entirely of fruits and veggies!

I will admit: I wasn’t sure how well this recipe experiment would go over with my family. I was prepared to get out the Ranch Dip for them, assuming these Simple Veggie Fritters would taste extra good that way. But guess what? I didn’t even need to get out the dip.

My kids at the Veggie Fritters without coaxing. And here I had an entire speech prepared.

What I’m loving most about all these Simple Meals on a Simple Budget recipes is that it’s teaching us ways to go meatless a little more often. We definitely still love our meat around here, but there really are many ways to fill my family without killing the fatted calf. This is a great budget saver, something we can all be very grateful about!

As you can see from the pictures, I served these Simple Veggie Fritters with a fun variety of other fruits and veggies that filled us up and offered us great nourishment! I dug garden okra out of our freezer from last summer and fried it in oil with salt. I cut a fresh pineapple. I got Homemade Guacamole out of the fridge. We ate like kings (and queen).

I’m sure we had meat with our evening meal later that day. But for lunch? We ate all the veggies and fruit and felt great!

Enjoy all these recipes without effort when you become a Simple Meals member! Every week we’ll send you a great menu plan full of Simple Recipes like this one. We’ll equip you with a grocery list. We’ll break everything down so that your meal prep is as simple as possible. We’ll give you bonus tips and recipes and freebies. And this is all for just $1 each week. You’ll love it!

Just when you thought my Waffle Iron kick had ended, you find that I am revisiting my obsession. Friends, today I present to you Simple Cornbread Waffles with Chili.

Aren’t they cute?

Simply scoop cornbread batter into your waffle iron, press and cook, then serve with your favorite chili and toppings. The cornbread waffle turns out crisp and tasty. The chili on top is warm and hearty. And we’ve got ourselves yet another Simple Meal on a Simple Budget!

Simple Cornbread Waffles with Chili

Today, I don’t have new recipes to share. Instead, I will point you to favorite Cornbread and Chili recipes already posted here at Heavenly Homemakers.

You can keep your costs for this Simple Meal to a minimum when you make this Lentil Chili.

This Hearty Chili is meatless, but feel free to cook hamburger or ground turkey to add more protein.

Enjoy all these recipes without effort when you become a Simple Meals member! Every week we’ll send you a great menu plan full of Simple Recipes like this one. We’ll equip you with a grocery list. We’ll break everything down so that your meal prep is as simple as possible. We’ll give you bonus tips and recipes and freebies. And this is all for just $1 each week. You’ll love it!